A fellowship composed of several Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Kaohsiung City Councilors, Kaohsiung City Government officials, DPP legislators and the Presbyterian Church of Taiwan yesterday announced a plan to hold a large-scale rally on Sunday to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the church's declaration on human rights.
Reverend Chen Sheng-cheng (陳勝政) told a press conference that the declaration, which was issued on Aug 16, 1977, was worthy of commemoration because it was sent to then US president Jimmy Carter and other world leaders amid worsening diplomatic relations between the US and Taiwan.
Chen said the declaration was significant because it was the first document from Taiwan to point out the fact that "Taiwan may become a new and independent country."
The declaration requested that Carter "continue to uphold the principles of human rights while pursuing the `normalization of relationships with communist China' and insist on guaranteeing the security, independence and freedom of the people of Taiwan."
The document also declared that the future of the nation should be determined by the people of Taiwan.
The fellowship said Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
The church said it will also invite President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) to the rally.
As of Monday, 9,908 people had signed up for the rally, the Church said.
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry